The book offers career advice for women in a world that is still
dominated by men.

Sandberg argues that women need to be more assertive in their
careers, fighting against societal programming that conditions
them to defer to men, scale back their ambitions, and essentially
give up early.

This passivity, Sandberg argues, is the real reason there are so
few women in positions of power.

In the context of this message, Sandberg notes that it is
impossible to "have it all" as a woman — full career and full
home life — if you're also expected to do all of the housework
and child care at home.

This is why a woman's most important career decision, Sandberg
says, is whom you marry.

Many women have been offended by Sandberg's implication that
they're responsible for their own relative lack of success. As a
billionaire, they say, Sandberg is not in a position to speak for
normal women. And it's the men who are keeping the women down!

Many men, meanwhile, have reacted to Sandberg's message by
lashing out at her. Sandberg, they say, doesn't even deserve her
own success. And she certainly has no business telling other
people how to act!

Interestingly, Sandberg herself predicted this reaction.

When explaining why she decided to write this book, Sandberg
cites many facts that illustrate why and how women hinder their
own progress in the workplace. One of these facts is a study
showing that, when men get more successful, people like them
more, while when women get more successful, people like them
less. (See: Deeply Troubling Stats About Women).

That's a depressing fact.

And, unfortunately, Sandberg's own experience would seem to
confirm it.

Sandberg has become one of the most successful and powerful women
in the world. And now, after writing a book that does little more
than urge women to believe in themselves and be more assertive in
their careers, Sandberg is being pilloried for a litany of
perceived sins.

For example, people have accused Sandberg of "just riding
Mark
Zuckerberg's coattails" at Facebook — as if her own hard work
and success at Facebook, Google,
the Treasury Department, McKinsey, the World
Bank, and Harvard doesn't give her the authority to speak
about how to succeed.

People have dismissed Sandberg as too rich and elitist to speak
on such matters — as if her own rise from a public school
education and a middle-class upbringing isn't a perfect
illustration of how talented and hard-working women can work
their way to the top.

And some people have dismissed Sandberg as uppity and bitchy for
even opening her mouth about these things — a woman who clearly
doesn't know her place.

That Sandberg knew she would be met by this reaction is a
testament to her guts and passion: She decided to say it anyway.

And if this reaction doesn't confirm that Sandberg's book
desperately needed to be written, nothing will.